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Jehovah's Witness is sentenced to six years in Russian prison
Danish citizen Dennis Christensen was jailed at a court in the southern Russian city of Oryol despite insisting he had 'never committed any criminal acts'. H...
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Russia jails Dane for six years in Jehovah's Witnesses purge
A Russian court on Wednesday found a Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of organizing a banned extremist group and jailed him for six years in ...
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Dane first to be jailed over Jehovah's Witness link in Russia | Al Jazeera English
A Russian court sentenced Dennis Christensen, a Danish member of the Christian sect, the Jehovah's Witnesses, to six years in jail on Wednesday. In 2017 ...
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Fox News
Russia sentences Jehovah's Witness to 6 years in prison for 'extremism'
A Russian regional court on Wednesday sentenced a Danish Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison, in just the latest incident by Moscow to crack down on ...
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From Twitter
Michael Slackmanverified_user
meslackman
Russian Court Sentences Jehovah’s Witness to 6 Years in Prison via @NYTimes https://t.co/FGtEL9hV0W
Twitter2/6/19 10:40 PM
Jay Nordlingerverified_user
jaynordlinger
The Russian state has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses. One of them, Dennis
Christensen, has been in prison almost two years. He has now been sentenced
to another six years. This is sick, and a disgrace to Russians. https://t.co/nVEbk40vXF
Twitter2/6/19 9:36 AM
Eric Vanderburgverified_user
evanderburg
Russia sentences Jehovah's Witness to 6 years in prison for 'extremism' https://t.co/j85VmESxVo
Twitter2/6/19 1:08 PM
Aurelia BAILLYverified_user
AureliaBAILLY
🇷🇺 Danish Jehovah's Witness gets 6 years for 'extremism' in Russia #AFP https://t.co/B6YAf9ouWy 📸 @AFPMladen https://t.co/6FT8O8h175
Twitter2/6/19 7:05 AM
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The Sun
Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to six YEARS in hellhole Russian jail after religion was labelled ‘extremist gro
The US-based organisation - which has eight million followers - was outlawed by the Kremlin's courts in 2017.
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BBC News
Russia jails 'extremist' Jehovah's Witness for six years
A Danish citizen living in Russia has been sentenced to six years in prison for practising as a Jehovah's Witness. The religious organisation was declared an ...
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Reuters
Russia jails Dane for six years in Jehovah's Witnesses purge
A Russian court on Wednesday found a Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of organizing a banned extremist group and jailed him for six years in ...
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Danish Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to six years in prison in Russia
MOSCOW — A Russian court sentenced a Danish Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for extremism Wednesday, one of the harshest verdicts in years ...
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TASS
Denmark vows to help its citizen charged in Russia with involvement in Jehovah's Witnesses
MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Anders Samuelsen is concerned about the verdict that the Russian court announced on ...
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Newsweek
Russia: Jehovah's Witness Sent to Prison For 'Extremist' Religious Beliefs Amid Crackdown
Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen, a Dane, sentenced by a Russian court for "organizing the activity of an extremist organization.”
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UPI News
Russian court sentences Jehovah's Witness to 6 years in prison
A Russian court sentenced a Danish Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison Wednesday amid a crackdown on the religion that Moscow has labeled extremist.
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Russia Jails Jehovah’s Witness After Banning Group as Extremist
MOSCOW—A Russian court sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years imprisonment for organizing activities associated with an outlawed extremist group, in a ...
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Human Rights Watch
Russia: Jehovah's Witness Convicted
A Russian court on February 6, 2019 convicted Dennis Christensen, a Jehovah's Witness adherent and Danish citizen, on extremism charges for practicing his ...
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For example, who's been keeping track of the Dane accused of killing his Nigerian wife. Well, apparently the trial is still ongoing. International News in Brief: ...
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Haaretz
Russia jails Jehovah's Witness for six years in landmark case
Russia has banned Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist.
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The Daily Caller
Russia Jails Danish Jehovah’s Witness For ‘Extremist Activities’
A Russian court sentenced Dennis Christensen, the first Jehovah's Witness arrested after Russia deemed the religion "extremist," to six years in prison.
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Aljazeera.com
Dane first to be jailed over Jehovah's Witness link in Russia
Dennis Christensen, a Danish national, is sentenced to six years for links to the Christian denomination, which Russia considers to be an extremist organisation.
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Russian jailing of Jehovah's Witness raises persecution fears
A Russian court has found a Danish Jehovah's Witness guilty of organising a banned extremist group and jailed him for six years in a case raising fears of a ...
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The Moscow Times
Russian Court Convicts Danish Jehovah's Witness to 6 Years for 'Extremism'
A Russian court for the first time convicted a Jehovah's Witness, Danish national Dennis Christensen, on extremism charges, BBC Russia reported on ...
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The Independent
Russia jails Jehovah’s Witness for six years in first prosecution under crackdown
Russia has sentenced a Danish national to six years' imprisonment in the first prosecution of a Jehovah's Witness since a crackdown on the fringe religious ...
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RT
Russian court jails Danish Jehovah’s Witness for 6 years in first case of its kind
Danish Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen has become the first member of the religious group to be jailed for extremist offences in Russia. The group has ...
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Newser
Russia Jails Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen for 'Extremism'
A regional court in western Russia on Wednesday sentenced a Danish Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison, in arguably the most severe crackdown on ...
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Russian Court Sentences Jehovah’s Witness to 6 Years in Prison
A Russian court on Friday found a Danish Jehovah's Witness guilty of organizing a banned extremist group and sentenced him to six years in prison, Russian ...
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Russian Court Sentences Jehovah's Witness To 6 Years In Prison For Extremism
Dennis Christensen was arrested during prayer. "I hope today is the day Russia defends religious freedom," he said before the verdict. Critics call it a severe ...
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The Associated Press
Russian court sends Jehovah's Witness to prison for 6 years
MOSCOW (AP) — A regional court in western Russia on Wednesday sentenced a Danish Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison, in arguably the most severe ...
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Reuters
Russia jails Jehovah's Witness for six years in landmark case
A Russian court on Wednesday found a Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of organizing the activities of a banned extremist organization and ...
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The Local Denmark
Danish Jehovah's Witness jailed for 6 years for 'extremism' in Russia
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for "extremism", in the first conviction of its kind since a 2017 law that ...
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Jehovah's Witness is sentenced to six years in Russian prison
Danish citizen Dennis Christensen (pictured today) was jailed at a court in the southern Russian city of Oryol despite insisting he had 'never committed any ...
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Daily Nation
Danish Jehovah's Witness gets 6 years for 'extremism' in Russia
The evangelical movement says it will appeal the verdict within 10 days.
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Aleteia EN
A Jehovah’s Witness is given Russia’s first prison sentence under extremism law
A foreigner living in Russia has received a six-year prison sentence for organizing the activities of a banned extremist organization, Reuters reported.
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The Telegraph
Jehovah's Witness in Russia sentenced to six years amid crackdown
A Russian court has given a six-year prison sentence to a Danish Jehovah's Witness, the first member to be convicted since the pacifist Christian sect was ...
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Meduza
Russian court sentences Jehovah's Witnesses elder to six years in prison for ‘extremism’
A court in Oryol has sentenced a local Jehovah's Witnesses elder to six years in prison for alleged extremist activity. Before hearing his verdict, Dennis ...
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New York Post
Russian court sentences Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a Danish man to six years behind bars for practicing as a Jehovah's Witness -- a first of it's kind case since the ...
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RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Danish Jehovah's Witness Found Guilty Of Extremism In Russian Court, Given Six Years
A Russian court has found Dennis Christensen, a Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion, guilty of "organizing the activity of an extremist ...
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Channel NewsAsia
Russia jails Jehovah's Witness for six years in extremism case
FILE PHOTO: Dennis Christensen, a Jehovah's Witness accused of extremism, leaves after a court session in handcuffs in the town of Oryol, Russia January 14, ...
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Jakarta Post
Danish Jehovah's Witness gets 6 years for 'extremism' in Russia - The Jakarta Post
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for "extremism", in the first conviction of its kind since a 2017 law that ...
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ABC News
Russia jails a Danish-born Jehovah's Witness under new extremism laws
The 46-year-old builder, Dennis Christiansen, is the first to be prosecuted under the new laws which some see as a violation of the Russian constitution's ...
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Legit.ng
Tension as Russian court jails Jehovah’s Witness member, bans group
Legit.ng News ☆ A Russian court has jailed one Danish Jehovah's Witness member, Dennis Christensen after he was found guilty of organising a banned ...
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INQUIRER.net
Danish Jehovah’s Witness gets 6 years for ‘extremism’ in Russia
ORYOL, Russia – A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for “extremism”, in the first conviction of its kind since a ...
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Russia Jails Jehovah's Witness In Landmark Case
A Russian court on Wednesday found a Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of organising the activities of a banned extremist organisation.
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Russian court sentences Danish Jehovah's Witness to jail for 'extremism'
A Danish man has become the first Jehovah's Witness to be convicted of 'extremism' in Russia.
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The Standard
Jehovah's Witness jailed for six years in landmark case
A Russian court on Wednesday found a Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of organizing the activities of a banned extremist organization.
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9news.com.au
Russia sentences Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen to six years in jail under extremism law
A Russian court has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in jail in one of the most severe crackdown ...
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Guardian Nigeria
Jehovah’s Witness gets 6 years for ‘extremism’ in Russia
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for "extremism", in the first conviction of its kind since a 2017 law that ...
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Russia jails Jehovah’s Witness for six years in landmark case
A Russian court on Wednesday found a Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of organizing the activities of a banned extremist organization and ...
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The Punch
Russia sentences Jehovah’s Witness to six years in jail for ‘extremism’
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for “extremism”, in the first conviction of its kind since a 2017 law that ...
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LailasNews.com
Jehovah’s Witness member jailed for extremism

"The term to which the Dane is sentenced," Christian Action notes, "by its severity shows that the proceedings are a show trial and their goal is intimidation of other adherents of this teaching."
https://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/190206a.html

Sorry about that. I thought since the entire article is quoted by another source "Stetson University Russia Religion News" that it was not a copyright issue.
https://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/00currentchoices.shtml

One Jehovah's Witness refugee's story
WITNESSES ON THE RUN: HOW BELIEVERS ARE PERSECUTED IN RUSSIA
Original article in Russian: Idel.Realii, 27 January 2019
Google translation: https://www.idelreal.org/a/29733570.html
Authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany have called attention to a new trend: Jehovah's Witnesses have been fleeing Russia. According to information of the Ministry of Migration and Refugees of the F.R.G., in 2018 the proportion of Russian citizens among refugees arriving in Germany is 2.3%. At the same time, the number of applications for asylum from Jehovah's Witnesses is growing.
{EDIT: To prevent copyright issues we can't accept whole articles being quoted. Please include only a snippet and a link. Thank you!}

"A VERY CONVENIENT VICTIM": RIGHTS ADVOCATES SEE DANGEROUS ATTACK ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHRISTENSEN CASE
by Maksim Kliagin
Russian original: Orlevskie Novosti, 28 January 2019
Google Translation into English: click here.
On 28 January, in the court of the Zheleznodorozhny district of Orel, the next session in the criminal case with respect to an adherent of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is forbidden in Russia, Dennis Christensen, was supposed to occur. However the session was postponed because the defendant's translator became ill. Nevertheless, within the walls of the Orel Auditorium a press conference was held, which was completely devoted to the criminal prosecution of Christensen, who has been in custody for the past year and a half.
{EDIT: To prevent copyright issues we can't accept whole articles being quoted. Please include only a snippet and a link. Thank you!}
{EDIT #2: Crazy long title shortened - Bob}

Joint statement on the freedom to religion or belief in Russia
24.01.2019
Download pdf
We, the members of the NGO coalition Civic Solidarity Platform, express our deep concern for the deprivation of the right to freedom of religion or belief towards Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and the persecution of the Community members. We urge the Russian authorities to stop deprivations, interrogations and criminal investigations for peaceful religious activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We ask the international organizations and governments of the democratic states to call on the Russian government to end the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
{EDIT: To prevent copyright issues we can't accept whole articles being quoted. Please include only a snippet and a link. Thank you!}

The military in many Governments use first person shooter games to "teach" warfare and killing.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/playing-war-how-the-military-uses-video-games/280486/
Regarding Jehovah's people Isa 2:4 says :" He will render judgment among the nations And set matters straight respecting many peoples.They will beat their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, Nor will they LEARN war anymore."

{the Selective Service System, the US agency which oversees the draft, states that an applicant's "reasons for not wanting to participate in a war must not be based on politics, expediency, or self-interest. In general, the man's lifestyle prior to making his claim must reflect his current claims."}
So any brothers who play first person shooter video games {OR watch Pornography} beware. YOU are being watched by more than just Jehovah. Although HE should be enough. "You MUST be holy" 1 Pet 1:16. NO part of the World.

This article goes well with our Watchtower study today. What we do on the internet is not invisible to Jehovah OR to the World anymore. A good reason not to be hypocritical and live the truth.
From CNN:
S Korea to investigate whether conscientious objectors played violent video games
By Jake Kwon and James Griffiths, CNN
Updated 8:10 AM ET, Fri January 11, 2019
A South Korean soldier looks at ribbons with inscriptions calling for peace and reunification displayed on a military fence near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas in the border city of Paju on January 1, 2019.
Seoul (CNN)Do you enjoy playing violent video games? Then you can't avoid military service.
That appears to be the message South Korea is sending conscientious objectors. Prosecutors said they were investigating whether a number of men seeking exemption from military service played "online shooting games" in the past.
"We need to verify their genuine faith. So we need to examine their personal life," an official with the prosecutors office on the southern island of Jeju told CNN. "We check whether they had been attending (religious) service. Checking their history with shooting games is another method."
Around a dozen men are currently facing hearings to determine whether they can claim conscientious objector status in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling in Novemberending South Korea's position as the world's leading jailer of those who refuse to join the armed forces.
"Refusing to enter the military due to a religious faith which forbids bearing arms is considered a justified reason to refuse duty," the court said in its ruling. "Therefore it cannot be criminally punished."
Oh Seung-hun (C), a Jehovah's Witness, speaks to the media after a court's verdict to overturn his conviction on refusing to do mandatory military service, at the supreme court in Seoul on November 1, 2018.
That ruling came after a decades-long fight by conscientious objectors, many of them Jehovah's Witnesses, to push back against the country's stringent military service law, under which all men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to perform at least 21 months of service in the South Korean armed forces.
Since then, however, conservative politicians and prosecutors have attempted to get around the court's ruling, by, for example, requiring conscientious objectors to carry out more stringent -- and potentially more dangerous -- forms of non-military service.
Following an earlier ruling by a constitutional court ordering the government to provide alternate ways to serve for objectors, the right-wing Liberty Korea Party put forward a bill to force objectors to perform 44 months -- double the usual length -- of service, including mine sweeping and other dangerous activities.
"This is a form of retaliatory punishment against conscientious objectors that is anachronistic and in violation of human rights," South Korea's Hankyoreh newspaper said in an editorial at the time.
South Korean army soldiers leave for the North to inspect the dismantled North Korean guard post in the central section of the inter-Korean border in Cheorwon, South Korea on December 12, 2018.
Conscientious objection remains controversial beyond South Korea, and those attempting to secure the status in order to avoid military service are often subject to multiple interviews and attempts to purportedly prove they are not sincere.
For example, the Selective Service System, the US agency which oversees the draft, states that an applicant's "reasons for not wanting to participate in a war must not be based on politics, expediency, or self-interest. In general, the man's lifestyle prior to making his claim must reflect his current claims."
By focusing on violent video games, prosecutors now appear to be attempting to undermine objectors' claims to be pacifist or driven by a pacifist religious belief, a move which has been denounced by activists.
Lim Tae-hoon, head of the Center for Military Human Rights Korea, told CNN the investigations of conscientious objectors showed prosecutors "still sees objectors as criminals."
"They are imposing a moral line fit for saints and spiritual leaders on them," he said. "It is a violation of privacy. Playing shooting video games and the refusal to bear arms is unrelated. It's a subjective judgment. A game is merely a game."
He added that the center planned to report prosecutors to the National Human Rights Commission. "It's their duty to defend human rights," Lim said. "They are not upholding the duty but acting against it."
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Jehovah.

"Kremlin watchers said the president’s comments could spell the end of a two-year-long persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia."
From Religion News Service yesterday:
[EDITED: Please don't paste whole articles, include just a snippet and a link to the article instead.]
https://religionnews.com/2019/01/09/putin-disavows-crackdown-on-jehovahs-witnesses-giving-hope-to-detained/
Putin disavows crackdown on Jehovah’s Witnesses, giving hope to detained
January 9, 2019
6 Min Read
MOSCOW (RNS) — Before he was arrested in April, Anatoly Vilitkevich often went door to door in his hometown, proselytizing and passing out literature inviting strangers to join his church. On April 10, masked police officers armed with automatic weapons arrested the 32-year-old handyman at the apartment he shares with his wife, Alyona, in Ufa, in central Russia. They advised him to bring warm clothes.
“They said he wouldn’t be coming home again,” said Alyona Vilitkevich. His sole crime under Russian law was doing what Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for the world over.
But lately Vilitkevich’s family has cause for hope. Last month, while meeting with human rights defenders, Russian President Vladimir Putin called assertions that Jehovah’s Witnesses had been classified as members of a terrorist, or even destructive, organization “complete nonsense.”

Amendment of law may affect Jehovah's Witnesses
DEFENSE LAWYER CRITICIZES SENTENCE OF ARKADY AKOPIAN IN LIGHT OF MITIGATION OF EXTREMISM ARTICLE
by Oleg Krasnov, Liudmila Maratova
Kavkazskii Uzel, 28 December 2018
The sentence of Jehovah's Witness* Arkady Akopian should be cancelled because of the decriminalization of the article concerning extremism, his attorney declared. Akopian became the first follower of Jehovah's Witnesses* to be convicted of arousing religious strife.
As Kavkazskii Uzel reported, on 27 December a court found Arkady Akopian, an adherent of the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses* from Prokhladnyi, guilty on the basis of part 1 of article 282 of the Criminal Code of the RF (arousing hatred and enmity) and sentenced him to 120 hours of compulsory labor. Akopian's defense insists on his complete innocence.
On 27 December, the Russian president signed a law amending article 282 of the Criminal Code, and these amendments make the sentence of Akopian baseless even from the position of the prosecution, Anton Omelchenko, the attorney of the defendant, declared. He intends to appeal the sentence in the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria by 29 December. After the mitigation of part 1 of article 282, it is now impossible to convict adherents of the Jehovah's Witnesses* based upon it, agrees a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses,* Yaroslav Sivulsky.
After the partial decriminalization of article 282, criminal cases based upon it may be opened only in the event of a repeated violation. The only remaining exceptions are crimes posing a serious threat to the foundations of the constitutional order or to the security of the state. The article was mitigated after a number of cases that were opened for reposting on social networks, Pravo reported today. The amendments will have retroactive force: after the law takes effect, sentences that were in effect on the basis of this article will be cancelled and cases that have been opened will be suspended, Interfax reported today.
The case of Arkady Akopian is unique: only six followers of the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses* have been tried on the basis of part 1 of article 282 of the CC, and only Akopian's case culminated in a conviction, noted Alexander Verkhovsky, the director of the Sova Center for News and Analysis. "The overwhelming majority of criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses* were opened on the basis of article 282.2 (participation in an extremist organization). Akopian was accused of inciting religious hatred," he told a Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent.
At the same time, Arkady Akopian became the first adherent of Jehovah's Witnesses* to be convicted after the total ban of this organization in Russia, Verkhovsky pointed out. This was confirmed also by Yaroslav Sivulsky. "There are now 90 Jehovah's Witnesses* in a SIZO. Not a single case begun after the total ban has reached trial. At the same time, many cases that were considered after regional bans led to sentences," Alexander Verkhovsky said.
Sivulsky thinks that Akopian's sentence will not affect other cases of Jehovah's Witnesses.* He noted that the investigation has managed to persuade the court on only one point of an accusation: mass distribution of forbidden literature.
"In April 2017, back before the liquidation of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses,* searches were conducted in Akopian's home. But law enforcement agents did not manage to find anything forbidden and they went silent for a year. And suddenly the case was revived and there appeared witnesses of a speech by Akopian that insulted Christians and Muslims. Among other things, people suddenly appeared who were inspired by Akopian and who began distributing forbidden publications. In all, five publications were distributed, which was regarded as 'mass distribution.' All this—from beginning to end—was fabricated; there was nothing to it," the representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses* declared.
During punishment, Akopian's freedom of movement is limited
This kind of punishment as corrective labor is considered in legal circles as lenient, noted Evgeny Chernousov, an attorney and retired colonel of the MVD. He explained that the convict is supposed to be given a time for conducting such public work like cleaning up an area. The convict's start of labor and its completion should be noted. In addition, while serving the punishment, the convict may not leave the region of his residence unless it is necessary for doing the public labor, Chernousov told a Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent.
Since Akopian's sentence still has not taken effect, no restrictions have been imposed on him, attorney Anton Omelchenko noted. "Conviction on article 282 of the CC of the RF places a person on the list of extremists, which makes it impossible to use bank accounts for a long time and difficult to get insurance and use a vehicle. This does not affect the retired Akopian, but it is worth defending his good name," he added.
Arkady Akopian himself refused to comment on the court's decision for a Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent.
*The organization was ruled to be extremist and its activity is prohibited in Russia by court decision.
(tr. by PDS, posted 31 December 2018)
Related article: Revised law mitigates penalty for extremist publications
December 28, 2018 One Jehovah's Witness' criminal case drags on for a year and a half
December 21, 2018

Yes the point is not the exact number since they are only partakers and not necessarily anointed. BUT the fact remains that an increase has occurred that did not occur for decades. Why? Perhaps {And this is mere conjecture} but there are Scriptures that seems to indicate a gathering of anointed ones just prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation where we are NOW.
9 "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altarp the souls*q of those slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the witness they had given.r10 They shouted with a loud voice, saying: “Until when, Sovereign Lord, holy and true,s are you refraining from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”t 11 And a white robe was given to each of them,u and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number was filled of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed as they had been.v12 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair,* and the entire moon became as blood...Rev 6:9-12.
Notice that just before the "Great Earthquake" which is the Great Tribulation since it mentions the exact events mentioned in Matt. 24 - that it says that the "NUMBER WAS FILLED". So as the Watchtower has stated in January 2016 that Jehovah can wait until late in the period to select anointed ones. This to me is encouraging since it shows we are very close to when the selection will end and they are sealed just BEFORE the Great Tribulation begins.
Also in the report is encouraging to see the increases in Africa and South America. And how about the Democratic rep. of Congo WOW only 230,000 publishers but 1,220,000 memorial attendance - that is the biggest increase.
Of course just before GT begins we should expect the amounts to level off or even decrease a bit worldwide as those "rightly disposed" are finally gathered and the end arrives.
James 5 :7,8 :"7 Be patient then, brothers, until the presence of the Lord.f Look! The farmer keeps waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, exercising patience over it until the early rain and the late rain arrive.g 8 You too exercise patience;h make your hearts firm, because the presence of the Lord has drawn close."